Abstract
Two complementary measurement systems—built upon an autonomous floating craft and a tethered balloon—for lake research and monitoring are presented. The autonomous vehicle was assembled on a catamaran for stability, and is capable of handling a variety of instrumentation for in situ and near-surface measurements. The catamaran hulls, each equipped with a small electric motor, support rigid decks for arranging equipment. An electric generator provides full autonomy for about 8 h. The modular power supply and instrumentation data management systems are housed in two boxes, which enable rapid setup. Due to legal restrictions in Switzerland (where the craft is routinely used), the platform must be observed from an accompanying boat while in operation. Nevertheless, the control system permits fully autonomous operation, with motion controlled by speed settings and waypoints, as well as obstacle detection. On-board instrumentation is connected to a central hub for data storage, with real-time monitoring of measurements from the accompanying boat. Measurements from the floating platform are complemented by mesoscale imaging from an instrument package attached to a He-filled balloon. The aerial package records thermal and RGB imagery, and transmits it in real-time to a ground station. The balloon can be tethered to the autonomous catamaran or to the accompanying boat. Missions can be modified according to imagery and/or catamaran measurements. Illustrative results showing the surface thermal variations of Lake Geneva demonstrate the versatility of the combined floating platform/balloon imagery system setup for limnological investigations.
Highlights
Worldwide, the quality and quantity of inland waters is a preoccupation for water resource management (e.g., [1,2,3,4])
To show the functionality of the combined ZiviCat-BLIMP system, we present temperature measurements for Lake Geneva from a 5-h field campaign from 18 March 2016
The results indicate a correlation coefficient of 90% and a Root Mean Square Difference (RMSD) of 0.2 ̊C between near-surface ZiviCat temperatures and the calibrated BLIMP values
Summary
The quality and quantity of inland waters is a preoccupation for water resource management (e.g., [1,2,3,4]). Our focus here is on lakes, as a core part of the inland water cycle. Autonomous surface vehicle and aerial mesoscale imagery for limnological investigations
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